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Model Kendall Jenner attends the world premiere of “Zoolander 2” in New York in February 2016. Jenner says she is just a ‘big kid’ at heart and misses childhood times with her little sister Kylie, when they would head outdoors and play in the dirt.
NEW YORK >> Model and Kardashian clan member Kendall Jenner’s turn as a Pepsi-wielding protester has some on social media decrying the imagery as appropriation of the Black Lives Matter movement.
The “Live for Now Moments” video released today has Jenner in a platinum wig on a photo shoot when protesters amble by. She rips off her wig, smears away her lipstick and joins them, eventually handing an officer on the demonstration line a can of Pepsi. He gulps some down, and then grins as Jenner dances off with her new friends.
Reaction on social media ranged from some saying the imagery was tone deaf, to it evoking a widely circulated photo of Black Lives Matter protester Leshia Evans last year in Louisiana. Evans was detained when she approached police at a demonstration in Baton Rouge.
In a statement late today, Pepsi defended the ad.
“This is a global ad that reflects people from different walks of life coming together in a spirit of harmony, and we think that’s an important message to convey,” the statement said.
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